TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS IN
A MILITARY CULTURE by Sohvi Siponmaa, MA, Finnish Naval Academy

THE FINNISH NAVAL ACADEMY
• FOUNDED IN 1930
• 102 EMPLOYEES, 400 STUDENTS
• TODAY WE TRAIN:
CADETS – NAVAL AND COAST GUARD OFFICERS TO
BE (C1 – C2)
PETTY OFFICERS (A2 – B2)
RESERVE OFFICERS AND RESERVISTS
PERSONNEL

THE FINNISH NAVAL ACADEMY
CONTINUED…
• FIELDS OF SPECIALTY
MARITIME
ENGINEERING
NAVIGATION
NAVAL WARFARE
C4
MARINE OPS
MARITIME
SURVEILLANCE
• RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT
• OPERATIONAL
READINESS

• GRADUATED FROM THE
UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI IN
1990
• NATIONAL DEFENCE
COLLEGE 1992 – 2007
• FINNISH NAVAL ACADEMY
2007 –
• TEACH ENGLISH (AND
SWEDISH), TRANSLATION,
TERMINOLOGY
• FASHION, ANTIQUE
SUMMER COTTAGE, HEAVY
METAL, FOOD  , AMERICAN
LITERATURE, SITCOMS

• COMMUNICATION IN
THE NAVY – WHAT IS
SPECIAL ABOUT IT?
• FINNISH
COMMUNICATION
• REMEDIES
• ORAL EXERCISES WE
DO
• WEBSITES & BOOKS
• THE FUTURE


• HOMOGENEOUS CULTURE
OTHER WAYS OF THINKING EXIST!
• INTROVERTED CULTURE
SUSPICIOUS OF THE NEW
• MACHO CULTURE
COMPETITIVE
• HIERARCHIC CULTURE
STIFFENS CONVERSATION
• HIGHLY PROFESSIONAL,
NO-NONSENSE CULTURE
SMALL TALK SKILLS!
• CURT CULTURE
DIRECT AND INSENSITIVE
NO GRAY AREA
ERROR-INTOLERANT

FINNISH COMMUNICATION
QUIET, MONOTONOUS, SLOW

GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS!
REASSURANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT!
 ASK FOR HELP!
 ASK AND GIVE FEEDBACK!
 GESTURES, BODYLANGUAGE, FACIAL
EXPRESSIONS, EYE CONTACT – SHOW
SOME PASSION!
 PRACTICE INTONATION!
 PRACTICE PRONUNCIATION OF INDIVIDUAL
WORDS!
 BE PROUD OF NATIONAL IDIOSYNCRASIES

MAKING IT WORK…







PARAPHRASE!
GENERALIZE!
AS MILITARY MEN: KNOW YOUR
PROFESSIONAL VOCABULARY!
INCORRECT GRAMMAR
SIMPLE SENTENCE STRUCTURE,
UNFINISHED SENTENCES
REPETITION OF SIMPLE PHRASES
BEING HESITANT (“Um…”, “Er…”, “Hm…”),
MAKING CORRECTIONS, LOSING TRAIN OF
THOUGHT, STARTING ALL OVER – THEY
ARE ALL OK!

MAKING IT WORK…



MIND YOUR TONE OF VOICE!
EFFECT OF STATUS: “
DO NOT BECOME
TONGUE-TIED WITH THOSE SENIOR IN STATUS OR
RANK OR CURSORY WITH THOSE JUNIOR IN
STATUS.” (Staley, Tongue and Quill)
LEARN IDIOMS! “What’s up?”
 CULTURAL DIFFERENCIES IN
COMMUNICATION
 BE POLITICALLY CORRECT AND SENSITIVE
TO PEOPLE AND SITUATIONS!
 ACCOMMODATE!
 CHANGE THE TARGET LANGUAGE!

• JOKE
• ”NEWSCLIP”
• FAST REACTIONS
FINISH THE SENTENCE
TELL A STORY/GIVE A SPEECH
TIMING
• TWO DIFFERENT SETS OF (PERSONAL) QS
ASK ME Q NUMBER 8
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THREE THINGS THAT…?
HAVE YOU EVER…?
WHY WERE YOU…?

ORAL EXERCISES CONTINUED…
• TONGUE TWISTERS & REPEATING
Is there a pleasant peasant present?
• IDIOMS
• TALKING ABOUT CURRENT
ISSUES
• WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE
TEXT?
• THEATER, STAND-UP COMEDY, MOVIES
• SMALL TALK PARTY
• RECESS

ORAL EXRECISES CONTINUED…
• PRESENTATION
PROFESSIONALS PRESENT
• EXPLAIN HOW A PIECE
OF TECHNICAL
EQUIPMENT WORKS
IN LAYMAN TERMS
• EXPLAIN WORDS
CROSSWORD PUZZLES
• PUT IT IN OTHER
WORDS
”ETA retarded due to suspended pilotage, resulting in severe deterioration of cargo”
• ORAL SUMMARY
WITH OR WITHOUT COFFEE AND
CAKE

ORAL EXERCISES CONTINUED…
• DRAW A PICTURE
• BOARD GAMES
• CASES – WORK-RELATED
• PRACTICAL SITUATIONS
RIFLE RANGE
BRIDGE AND ENGINE ROOM
PHONE CALL

• thefreedictionary.com
• sitepal.com
• englishcentral.com
• webchef.eu
• ESLgold.com
• freerice.com
• edu.fi/etalukioetusivu
• oppiminen.yle.fi

• PETER WATCYN-JONES
• IDEBANK, Otava
• CAMPAIGN, Macmillan
• ENGLISH FOR THE MARITIME
INDUSTRY, Idris
• CHECK YOUR ENGLISH VOCABULARY
FOR TOEFL, Bloomsbury

• CLIL
• VIDEO
CONFERENCE
• vocaroo.com
• SOCIAL MEDIA
• MOODLE
Virtual Learning
Environment